Life After Itex
by HelloMyFlock181
Summary: Years after Itex was destroyed, the Flock settle down with Dr. Martinez in Arizona. What does life after Itex have to offer? And Fang has a brother, Aaron. FAX! -again, I suck at summaries-
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1; A Day In the Life**

Fang stared at the television watching "Cheaters" and reminiscing about his day.

_Nothing_ he said to himself, _nothing but lounging around; pure bliss._

He thought of how downright funny, yet wrong it was that someone would cheat in their own home when they knew that their spouse would be arriving very soon. It cracked him up! And sure as heck made for good television!

1:00…

As Fang picked up the remote and began to scroll through the channels, he heard a loud shout coming from the stairs. Startled, he turned around, not too surprised to discover that it was only the two boys, Gazzy and Iggy, fighting over who would drive the car to the grocery store.

Even though Gazzy was only 14, he apparently thought he could drive. Needless to say, Iggy won the battle.

Fang watched them struggle out the door to the car thinking how crazy yet wonderful his "family" was.

Reluctantly, he pulled himself away from the television screen, realizing that all of that ruckus could have cost him any chance of a day of pure bliss, to go check on his and Max's 11 month old daughter, Faith. Hopefully she hadn't woken up from the two teenagers. He opened the door to the room he shared with them, finding her staring wide eyed at him with a binky in her mouth. Faith raised her arms to him and started to cry. He hoisted her out of her crib, gave her a kiss, and carried her downstairs.

He sat the little girl in her high chair and went to the cupboard to grab some Cheerios, or "Ios", as Faith called them. He reached for the box but it slipped from his hand and fell to the ground causing an explosion of Cheerios. He could hear Faith suck in a breath and say "Uh oh…" as their 80 pound Malamute Akila trotted up to the mess and started munching wildly.

He sighed._ What a day,_ Fang thought. Then—day? _What a__**lifetime.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2; Good to Be Home…Maybe?**

Max walked through the door and threw her backpack on the couch. Her day at school had been less than delightful, having sat at a desk all day. Being a medical assistant didn't always have it's charms.

She ran up the steps to her room to change into some more comfortable clothes. She found a pair of soffe shorts and her old "Senior Prank Week" t-shirt and slipped them on, glad to be home, and trotted back downstairs.

As she came approached the kitchen what she saw made her giggle slightly.

The box of Cheerios emptied onto the floor, the dog delightfully crunching on them, Faith in her highchair giggling and her darling Fang sunk onto the floor with his hand on his forehead, sighing in frustration.

She tried to make her giggles less noticeable and she walked into the kitchen with a simple, "How was your day?"

Fang couldn't help but crack a smile as she lifted him up off the floor and gently pecked him on the cheek.

Faith squealed excitedly from her seat saying, "Mommy, Mommy!"

Max glided over to her daughter and scooped her out of her highchair, giving her a big hug and kiss. She hated having to go to school for hours and leave her daughter here with her mom, Dr. Martinez, especially since Fang had to go to school every day. Though Fang enjoyed being a detective, Max could tell it hurt him too, to not be with his daughter 24/7.

She pulled herself from her thoughts and went to go say hi to her mom, then go sit on the couch with Fang to wait for everyone to get home.

But, just as she went to sit down, there was an earsplitting 'BANG!' and they immediately dropped to the floor.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3; Kicking and Screaming**

Max could feel a sharp pain in her right shoulder and abdomen. She was afraid to look down but did so anyway.

She had two red blossoms appearing on her stomach and one on her shoulder.

Fang darted up off the floor and out the door as he tried to catch the shooter as Max cradled her crying baby in her arms.

Suddenly, Max felt arms grab and yank her from Faith just as everyone began pulling into the driveway, piling out and calling her name. Aaron came in just in time to grab her, but was knocked out cold as the cold steel of the man's gun came into contact with his head.

Max let go of Faith and started kicking and screaming, trying to loosen her captures hold on her. When she tried to bite him, he yelped and aggressively threw her into the back of a van. She got on her shaking knees and banged on the window as hard as she could, somehow thinking it would break.

She felt another sharp pain, this time in her neck, and suddenly felt very dizzy. She pulled the dart out of her neck and stared at it for a moment, then moved her gaze back out the window to her screaming family.

Then the last thing she saw was Fang desperately calling for her along with her little girl as she collapsed onto the floor of the van in an unconscious heap.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4; Gone**

Max woke up sometime later and was very sore, lying by a campfire. She tried to sit up, noticing all of the bruises and wounds on her body.

_What happened to me?!_

_**PAIN!**_

In the course of sitting up she had caught her leg in the fire and now couldn't get it out.

A string of colorful words went through her head as she removed her leg from the fire by hand, expecting her burning hand to come out holding nothing but a charcoaled chunk of meat. She dared to look down at her leg, relieved yet horrified to see that it was still very fleshy and bubbly.

Suddenly, the image of her family calling her name flashed through her head and she broke down crying but she stopped herself as she heard heavy footsteps approaching.

She tried to stand up but cried out when she put pressure on her left leg. Her capture grabbed her by the hair, picking her up and throwing her to the ground and kicking her three times in the side. She stifled a cry; for every blow sent a shock wave of pain throughout her battered and bruised body.

He cursed at her and walked away, and for some reason never showing his face or even said any other word to her.

Max was really tired. But she knew better, if she relaxed and stopped moving, she would slip into shock. She got up and tried to jog in place, not caring how stupid she felt only being able to hop on one leg.

_**Max?!**_

Angel!

_Hi sweetie!_

_**Are you ok, Max?**_

_I don't really know, Ange._ Her voice was shaky and she felt like she was about to collapse from relief.

_**Tell us where you are! Or at least try to. We miss you soooo much!**_

Max looked around for a moment, studying the area around her and trying to have some recollection.

_Uh…I-I don't k-know._

_**Max, are you okay? You're stuttering.**_

_I-I'm just really happy to finally hear from someone… W-Where are the others? I don't hear any noise in the b-background._

_**Well, first of all, it's midnight and second, Aaron and Fang just flew out the door to come look for you! They're gonna do their best to find you and bring you home!**_

_The-they're coming to get me?_

_**Yeah Max, they're coming.**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5; No Hope**

It had been a week since she had talked to Angel and, sadly, the man had come back and heard her talking. Sadly that got her a good beatin'. By now, Max didn't think she could take much more. She hadn't had any food in a week and she was throwing up all over the place. She couldn't even stand up anymore and it felt like her family had given up on her.

None the less, she still held onto that sliver of faith that her family would come for her.

She was sitting against a rock and humming to herself; all the while the man who had taken her from the people she held most dear to her, stared at her, probably thinking she was beginning to fly a little off her rocker. Every once and a while he would tell her to shut up or hit her, but, if she dared, she would start back up again. She watched as he finally got to his feet, probably too tired to speak or hit anymore, and left to his truck-about 100 yards away- to get a good night sleep.

Wow, she was relieved! She let out a pent up breathe.

Sometime later on in the night she heard something that sounded like tires driving across the gravel road nearby. She heard the car park and doors quietly shut. There were soft footsteps coming closer and she tensed up, ready to fight.

Then Max felt strong arms around her waist and was immediately on alert, on instinct she elbowed it in the stomach.

"Max! Jeeze!" Fang whisper/yelled.

"Fang!"

She couldn't believe it for a second; they were actually here! It took her about a minute to register the thought as he scooped her up into his arms while she started to cry. He pressed kisses to her forehead and Max looked over his shoulder to see Aaron standing there pointing, eyes wide.

"Guys, we've got company."

Her captor was back and from the looks of it, infuriated and bloodthirsty.

This happened to be the first time she had seen his face and she then realized now that he was one of the guys that Fang and Aaron had help put in jail. Fang had been the last one to talk to him and the last thing he said before Fang left was "I'm gonna find a way to make you pay!"

Well I guess he had found it.

Now Fang and Aaron were really pissed. They had a score to settle; a vendetta.

Eyes wild, Aaron lunged at him but was thrown to the ground. There was a loud crunch and Aaron felt a sharp pain in his arm.

The man started for Max and from the ground Aaron pulled out his .22 colt and shot him right in the back and watched him slump to the ground.

"Go!" He shouted, voice shaking from the pain.

Fang picked Max up and started sprinting to the car.

While the guy was on the ground, Aaron stood up and ran to the car, whimpering and cradling his most likely broken arm.

They had gotten Max back in one piece! Now they could just go home and forget about all of this.

But, of course, nothing is _ever_ that easy.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 7; Finding My Way Back Home**

Now Aaron saw Max was unconscious as she was shoved into the middle seat of Fang's old worn out truck. He felt like throwing up. At least he didn't look like her. Her shorts were shredded and her shirt… Well let's just say that there was no way that could be saved. She was as white as the white lettering on her torn up t-shirt. Her blonde hair was tangled and her face and body were covered with gouges and bruises where she had either been hit or where she had scraped her face as it impacted with the ground when she tripped over her leg so many times.

She groaned and blinked her eyes. She felt sick. She looked at Aaron and, well, that only made it worse. His arm was crooked and really… disgusting.

Aaron stared at her leg and suddenly turned and stuck his head out the window and threw up all over the car door.

"Don't look at me," was all he said as he leaned back into the car.

Max swiveled her head to Fang's direction. "What happened?"

Before she could answer, there was a loud grumble and her eyes went wide as she puked all over Fangs' lap.

Well now he was going to be sick!

"Oh, jeeze, Fang, pull over!"

Feeling nauseated, he checked the road behind him to make sure they weren't being followed and pulled over, almost running into a tree. He got out of the car and went around to the side of the car to help Max and Aaron out.

Max got out of the car and looked down at, well what used to be, her shorts. She gasped at the thought that her brother-in-law could have seen her 'undies' and quickly pulled down her shirttail, or what was available at least. She was a mess! She certainly felt like one as well. She looked over at Fang rummaging through his bag and he threw something black with white and red hearts all over them and what appeared to be a shirt with a 'Led Zepplin' logo on it.

"Put these on," Fang instructed.

Max snorted, despite the current situation. "Are these your boxers? I've never seen the before…"

"No, they're Aaron's."

"What? Do I _have_ to wear them? Don't you have something else in your magical bag?"

"No, now unless you want him to see your underwear I suggest you put them on."

She opened her mouth trying to come up with some snappy comeback, but decided there was no use in fighting over something so silly.

"…Fine."

She tore the scraps from her scared legs and quickly slipped on the shorts and shirt, cringing when the fabric brushed her left leg and wounded shoulder and stomach. She tiptoed over to a tree and stood behind it so no one would see her while she checked the gunshot and stab wounds on her body. Being a medical assistant, she could tell right away that if she didn't see a doctor soon, she could be in big trouble.

She came back around to where Fang was undressing an unconscious Aaron.

"Uhh…"

"He's in shock; anything tight could easily stop his blood flow."

Ah.

"His arm is broken; really broken. I need you to come over here and set it or whatever you doctors are supposed to do."

She found a rag that Fang had tossed aside and stuck it in Aaron's limp jaw, so he wouldn't bite off his tongue when she set his arm.

"Alright, you pull and I'll…put everything where it needs to be."

Easier said than done, Fang thought as they took hold of Aarons arm.

"Okay," Max said. "Pull."

It was kind of sick to watch but it was better than seeing Aaron's face. He looked like he could feel every second of it.

There was a 'pop' and Aaron cried out in pain while Fang noticed the little dark lump under his brothers skin.

"Max, I think that's the bullet…We need to get it out and put a bandage on it so he doesn't get an infection."

"Already on it."

He watched how calm and collected she looked; she had definitely done something like before. He felt proud to say that she was his fiancée. She dug the bullet out with ease, gingerly put some antiseptic on it and bandaged it.

Faith…

"Max, who's watching Faith? Is she home alone? Oh, Lo-"

"Fang, honey, she's okay, mom's with her. Now calm down you're going to upset Aaron when he wakes up!"

"Oh…If I didn't feel stupid before I defiantly do now."

Max giggled and gave him a quick kiss on the mouth. "Good."

There was a miserable groan and they looked over to see Aaron waking up with a pained look on his face. He tried to hide it but simply couldn't when his palm began touching the hard ground, putting pressure on his arm, and tried to stifle a scream, instead it came out as more of a girly squeal.

"Don't get used to it…" She grumbled and walked over to the truck and hopped onto the middle seat.

"Let's get going!" She said with the click of her seatbelt.

"Wow," Aaron whispered to his brother. "For someone who's been tortured for weeks you would think she'd be a little less enthusiastic."

They climbed into the truck on either side of her and started the engine, wishing they could be home already


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 8; Reunion**

She felt like passing out. Her leg hurt. She felt like barfing.

Max thought she was being hugged to death.

Her cheeks burned from smiling; she was so happy to be home again and see her family! Another contributing factor was the strong, amazing smell of cookies wafting throughout the house. Nothing like coming home to your moms home-made cookies!

"I'm so glad you're home!" "I thought you were dead!" and "I missed you!" were the only phrases she could make out over the excited crowd. It was mainly Nudge. No surprise there. But she was happy to finally be home there was no way to describe it. Yet she was very shaken up and with every slight noise that sounded remotely similar to the sound of a gunshot made her jump.

As everyone dispersed, she found Faith sleeping on the couch with her teddy bear clutched tightly to her and lying on her daddy's chest, for some reason not waking up from all of the noise. Tears threatened Max as she dragged her sore feet across the hardwood floor over to her and Fang. If there was anyone she missed most it was Faith.

Nick saw the look on her face so he reluctantly handed Faith to Max as she plopped down on the couch. Faith moved, startled, opened her eyes and realized who it was, then curled up tightly against her mom. Fang wrapped his arm around Max and whispered how much he loved her and how glad he and everyone else was to see her home. She snuggled into his chest and kissed his collar bone.

She was so tired yet in so much pain that sleep wasn't even possible at the moment.

She kept wondering why she felt like crap when she should be ecstatic…

_Oh ya…, _Max thought,_ I've been tortured for a week and a half, shot in two places and have a burn on my leg…_

At that same moment, Max stood up and handed Faith to Fang so she could get a drink of water, and passed out.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 9; An All Too Familiar Place**

Fang hated hospitals. He hated the need to be in a hospital. Especially when he was here living his worst nightmare.

His fiancée, the love of his life, the mother of his child, might not survive the night.

As soon as he had pulled his truck into the parking lot, the doctors began to pile out of the hospital. When they realized that the woman was their colleague they went to work with exact precision.

Now he was sitting in the waiting room with Faith on his lap bouncing up and down in his seat from anticipation. Max was in surgery for her leg and her stab and bullet wounds. The doctors had said she looked really and after close examination, dropped the bomb. He couldn't imagine having to live without her; having to raise a kid on his own. It was impossible; it just couldn't happen.

One of the doctors stepped into the room wearing surgical scrubs and closed the door behind him.

"She seems to be doing much better," he stated. "She should recover. She will need to stay here for a while and it's going to be a long, hard process, what with more surgeries ahead of her."

Nick nodded, his stomach churning. "Can I see her?"

"Yes, but we only allow one person at a time so you will have to leave your daughter here."

He nodded again and tried to pry a sleepy Faith from his chest but she reached her arms out to him and started to cry.

The doctor must have seen the desperate look on Fang's face because he turned to him and nodded his head. "Please try to keep Faith quiet, we have other patient recovering also."

Fang silently agreed and held Faith's tiny hand grip his shirt tightly.

Max was in the room by herself, seeming to be lying too still for Fang's liking. She was resting on her stomach; Nick assumed that it was because of the multiple stab wounds on her back, with all kinds of equipment and needles attached to her. It made him suck in a sharp breathe.

He handed Faith to Aaron and walked over to her bedside to press a kiss to her forehead.

She gazed lazily up and she gave him a weak smile as her eyes fluttered shut again.

From Aaron's arms, Faith made a soft mewling sound and stretched her arms out towards her mother. Aaron moved over to the bed and laid the child next to Max. Her eyes came open blinking down at Faith and she smiled again, resting her left hand on her daughter.

Fang's throat threatened to close off and he leaned down and kissed his two favorite girls in the world.


	9. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10; My Sweet Escape**

Hovering somewhere between sleep and awareness, he could tell that he did in fact snore. Though nowhere near as loudly as she claimed. Eyes closed, lips slightly parted, even after being safe for all these years, his mind was still on watch.

He was lying on his stomach, his arm hanging off the edge of the bed into space, aware of the presence in the bed with him. There was a soft but well muscled leg draped over his, a gentle hand lying just under his left.

It had been two weeks since Max had come home from the hospital. Everyone was so happy to have her home. As soon as she was up to it, Ella and Dr. Martinez took her out.

He pulled himself from his thoughts and turned slightly to look at the clock…

2:25

Just as he started drifting back into unconsciousness, he felt a soft tug on his finger and his brain awoke again.

He felt another tug.

"Daddy?"

A faint, hushed little voice, the voice of his now year old daughter.

The thought of someone calling him 'daddy' still made him smile, even after being one for a whole year.

He grunted to let Faith know he was listening.

Fang propped himself up on his elbows, rubbed his face with both hands and yawned.

The leg that was draped over his moved and the owner became awake.

"What's wrong?" Her voice was slurred and groggy but he understood her all the same.

He assured his fiancée that everything was fine and turned on his side to hoist the little girl up onto the bed. She sighed and her fist grabbed hold of his shirt as he laid her on his chest.

Faith sighed contentedly and Fang studied his daughters features, seeing what was like him and Max that made up her sweet face.

He could see that Faith had her mother's deep brown eyes and soft lips; she had the same look on her face as Max did when she slept. He could tell that she was most likely to have her hair also. But she had his nose and his chin and, like him, she curled her fist under her chin when she was in a deep sleep; dreaming.

Max moved on the other side of the bed and turned to see her daughter's face.

These were the times he loved so much. All three of them, sitting together with no one to disturb them. _My sweet escape._

Fang peered over at Max. He loved the look on her face that she got only in times like this one. He didn't know what to call it, but it suited her. She had acquired that look the day that Faith was born. Her eyes were soft and gentle looking, a smile, though barely detectible, showed on her lips.

She leaned over and kissed Faith on the back of the head, then moved to press a soft kiss to Fangs smiling lips.

He smiled to himself.

_My family,_ he thought, _**my**_ _family._


	10. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11; Dream**

"_Go!" I shouted, "Go! Run!"_

_I knew she wanted to turn back. I wanted her to. I wanted her to come running back to me so I could hold her and tell her that she didn't need to worry anymore. She didn't need to worry about anything, let alone our situation._

_But my little girl kept running. Tears began to run down and stain my dirt powdered cheeks. I saw a flash of her golden hair as she turned to look back at me with her beautiful yet sad and fearful eyes. She was scared. _

_Then with one final glance, she whipped her head back around and dashed away as fast as her tiny legs would allow until, for the first time in my life, I wondered whether or not I would ever see her again._

Max sat up in her bed drenched with sweat, her hand clutching a fistful of her tank top. She looked over at Faith and then Fang and, for some reason, she felt soft tears on her cheeks. She slowly brought her feet around to the side of the bed and quietly slipped out from under her fiancées grip, heading for the kitchen.

:*~*:*~*:*~*:*~*:*~*:*~*:*~*:*~*:*~*:*~*:*~*:*~*:*~*:*~*:*~*:*~*:*~*:*~*:

As Aaron lied awake in his bed, he could hear the quiet shuffle of feet on the wood paneled floor. He swung his feet around and gingerly turned to knob on his door. Peeking his head out and around he saw Max's tiny figure strode over to the freezer. _Hm, _he thought,_ I could sure go for some ice cream._

He opened the door just enough to squeeze through and tiptoed to the kitchen, so as not to wake anyone up.

Just as he stepped into the kitchen, Max turned around and they both whisper shrieked.

Aaron collapsed with laughter and Max stared wide eyed at him for a moment, then began to giggle.

"Aaron you scared me!"

"Sorry, I was just coming to join my soon-to-be sister-in-law for some ice cream!" He replied with his hushed voice.

"Well next time you could enlighten me by letting me know you're in here instead of sneaking up on me!"

He held up his hands in self-defense, "Alright, Maxie, you win."

"Thank you," she finished, "And really? Maxie?"

He simply smirked and turned to where the gallon of ice cream was sitting near Max.

"What's wrong," Asked Aaron, "You look all sweaty and pale."

"Uh, I just had a weird dream."

"the same one you've been getting for the past few months."

It was more of a statement rather than a question. But he was right.

"Yeah," she admitted

"Why do you think you keep having the same dream?"

"I don't know… I always wake up the same way though, sweaty and terrified. I always have to make sure Fang and Faith are still there."

She had been having that dream for so long and she still didn't know what it meant. She figured it had to mean something; she'd had it for months!

She gulped down her last bight of Rocky Road and went to set her bowl in the sink. She turned to Aaron and gave him a quick hug.

"G'night, Aaron."

"Night, Max."

With that she twisted her feet then body to the direction of her room. As she opened the door she saw Fang's worried eyes.

"Are you ok," he asked.

She smiled, "Yeah, I'm ok."

Max trotted over to the bed and slowly sank under the blankets and Fang tured over and gently kissed her.

"Get some sleep," Fang persisted.

"Goodnight. Love you."

She didn't catch a wink of sleep that night.


	11. AN: SORRY!

AUGH! I'm so sorry I haven't been able to update anything recently! I've been super busy with sports and this is the first time I've been able to even touch my laptop for a long time! I promise more is coming but first I want your opinion. Should I continue the story?

Much love for all those who can help me out!

~Max


End file.
